After beating Bristol City 5-0 and ending the suspense in the second round, Liverpool can devote all its body and mind to preparations for the next blockbuster game.
Liverpool's next game is the 23rd round of the Premier League at home against Manchester City.
This is a good opportunity for Liverpool to continue chasing points, and of course it is also an opportunity for Manchester City to continue to widen the gap with Liverpool.
In the first round of the contest between the two sides in the first half of the season, Manchester City took advantage of their home court advantage and the explosive state of all the players to win 4-3 against Liverpool. It was one of the few times since Willard joined Liverpool that the whole team tried their best. But still lost the game.
Now this 23rd round game is not only a battle of revenge for Liverpool, but also a key battle for both sides to compete for the top spot in the current standings and even this season's Premier League championship.
The current situation is that Manchester City has an unbeaten record of 20 wins, 2 draws, 0 losses and 62 points in the first 22 rounds, ranking first.
Liverpool played two fewer league rounds due to the Club World Cup at the end of last year and ranked second with 57 points in 20 games with 19 wins, 0 draws and 1 loss. But Liverpool's opponents in those two make-up games were not strong. If they win them all in the subsequent make-up games, Liverpool will reach 63 points, 1 point more than Manchester City.
So this game with direct dialogue between the two sides is really crucial. Whether it is for Liverpool or Manchester City, it is the same. It is a championship battle worth six points.
Therefore, in addition to going all out to actively prepare for the game, the two sides also had a lot of verbal battles before the game, each expressing their confidence in winning.
Soon, the time came to the match day. Although the weather was not good, it was drizzling, and it coincided with the cold winter, fans from both sides gathered outside Anfield Stadium very early, waiting to enter.
Of course, the largest number of fans are the fans of the Red Army and Liverpool. After all, Manchester City is playing away from home. There are only a few thousand away fans of Blue Moon. However, these thousands of people are of course very die-hard fans. The momentum created in the stadium will be no less than Tens of thousands of people.
At 17:00 on the afternoon of January 14, the battle for the top spot between Liverpool and Manchester City in the 23rd round of the 2017/2018 Premier League season officially began at Anfield Stadium in a drizzle with a temperature of only 67 degrees Celsius.
Just like the first round of the first half of the season, neither side was conservative and sent out a 433 formation to attack.
Obviously, Manchester City want to replicate their first-leg victory in the first half of the season. Liverpool, on the other hand, is already accustomed to playing a 433 high-pressing formation. In addition, Velarde is now stronger than in the first half of the season, so there is no need to change the formation.
Although the two sides started to attack from the beginning of the game, the cold weather and slippery venue made it difficult for the players on both sides to get out of shape, and the game ended in a 0-0 draw within the first 20 minutes. But everyone can see that Liverpool, playing at home, has a certain advantage, because Liverpool has the powerful Willard in the midfield, who can attack, retreat and defend. Manchester City's passing and controlling style of play depends on the control of the midfield. Seriously restricted by Willard.
The combination of factors such as avenging the loss in the first half of the season, a good opportunity to compete for the championship, and playing at home gave Liverpool's players high morale and took the lead in entering the game.
In the 28th minute, Liverpool played a wonderful teamwork, and finally Velarde passed the ball into the penalty area. Firmino leaned on Manchester City defender Stones, half-turned and volleyed the ball successfully into the goal.
The distance was too close, and goalkeeper Ederson had no choice but to watch the ball go into the net.
Liverpool scored first, leading Manchester City away from home 1-0.
This ball opened up the scoring accounts of both sides. A few minutes later, Manchester City also sent a strange ground curve ball from De Bruyne, bypassing the defensive center back Van Dijk and going to his side. Aguero rushed forward and volleyed the ball into Liverpool's goal.
Manchester City equalized the score, and thousands of Blue Moon fans in the stands cheered.
The two sides began to speed up the pace of offensive and defensive transitions, but weather and venue restrictions caused both sides to make many mistakes. Liverpool, with Willard, was significantly better able to seize opportunities.
In the 40th minute, Gundogan made a mistake when he was about to pass the ball to defender Otamendi under Mane's pressure. Velarde reacted first and rushed forward with his "speed" attribute of 98, grabbing Otamendi's goal. Di touched the ball before, raised the ball up, and picked the ball over Otamendi, who was flying to tackle Otamendi. He also jumped up and jumped over Otamendi's body, then landed on the ground and chased the ball towards him. .
The mistakes of Gundogan and Otamendi instantly allowed Velard to form a single-handed ball in the frontcourt. Another central defender Stones, who was returning from the side, tried his best to defend and try to steal the ball, but Not as fast as Willard.
Goalkeeper Ederson attacked quickly, but still lost to Willard. Willard caught the ball before Ederson, and shot directly to deceive Ederson, but then he knocked the ball out again. Then he passes the goalkeeper like the wind and catches up with the ball before it leaves the baseline. Although the angle was already very small, Velarde's shooting skills, coupled with the fact that the goal was already empty, certainly made no mistakes. He easily scored the ball into the empty goal with a kick.
"Goooooooooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
Amid the shouts of the live announcer, Liverpool relied on Willard's frontcourt counterattack to score the second goal, leading Manchester City again. All the Red Army fans, led by the announcer, shouted Velarde's name over and over again and paid homage to him.
In the remaining minutes of the first half, despite Manchester City's crazy attack, they failed to equalize the score. The closest thing to a goal was Gundogan's long shot from outside the penalty area, but goalkeeper Karius made a rare world-class save and saved the ball.
Although Karius occasionally performs poorly, when he doesn't make mistakes, his performance is still good, but people worry that he will miss the chain at critical moments.
Soon, the first half ended, and the two sides entered the halftime break with a score of 2-1. Liverpool, playing at home, took advantage of Willard's pass and shot to temporarily take the lead by one goal.
After 15 minutes of intermission, the two sides changed sides and fought again in the second half. Manchester City launched an attack at the beginning of the second half, trying to score a goal, but Liverpool, led by Willard and Van Dijk, withstood Manchester City's attack. A wave of offensive, and then also launched a counterattack.
In the 61st minute, Willard dribbled the ball past two people and then sent a wonderful pass. Salah received the ball from the right, turned and smoothly bypassed the full-back Delph, and then dribbled the ball into the penalty area and passed. Firmino He followed up and shot directly from the center, knocking down the goalkeeper and allowing center back Otamendi to fly to block the hole of the gun.
As a result, Firmino did not actually shoot, but raised his foot and leaked the ball to the other side. Mane, who followed up from the left, successfully pushed the ball into the empty goal.
Goalkeeper Ederson was knocked to the ground by Firmino's fake shot and was helpless. He could only watch the ball go into the net.
Liverpool finally expanded the score again, extending their one-goal lead to two goals, which immediately made everyone's morale even higher.
No matter how good Manchester City is, a two-goal disadvantage is not so easy to recover, especially now that it has entered the second half. If the opponent is not Manchester City, but another team, Liverpool can be said to have secured the victory.
Trailing by two goals, Manchester City will of course have to fight hard. Now their lead is not obvious. If Liverpool wins two consecutive make-up games, they will be one point behind Liverpool. Therefore, not only can they not lose this game, they cannot even draw. They must reverse it. In other words, they must score three goals in a row.
This level of difficulty is of course unparalleled at Anfield, and Manchester City must try their best.
Manchester City, who went all out, did play a wonderful and exquisite pass in the 73rd minute. They passed more than ten shots throughout the process. In the end, Gundogan assisted Sane to volley and score in the penalty area.
Blue Moon scored another goal to tie the score to 2-3, only one goal behind Liverpool.
This gave Manchester City hope again, their morale was even higher, and they continued to attack.
But Liverpool has also been waiting for the opportunity to counterattack. As Manchester City stepped up their offensive, Liverpool's formation was slightly closed, attracting Manchester City to press forward, leaving more gaps in the backcourt.
In the 84th minute, Liverpool finally caught the loophole in Manchester City's backcourt. When Van Dijk pressed Aguero and forced him to pass to Sterling, he made a mistake and the ball was grabbed by another Red Army central defender Lovren. , Willard immediately turned around and rushed towards Manchester City's half.
Sure enough, Lovren passed the ball to Wijnaldum in time, and then Wijnaldum targeted the direction of Velarde's movement and made a long pass in the air, successfully sending the ball to Manchester City's backcourt.
Although defender Otamendi competes with Velarde for the top position, Otamendi is at a disadvantage in terms of height, jumping, header skills, physique, judgment of landing points, etc. How can he win over Velarde? ?
Willard successfully fought for the top, successfully passed the ball to Firmino on the side, and then landed on his own, bypassing Otamendi and rushing towards Manchester City's penalty area.
Firmino understood the idea and without stopping the ball, he sent the ball behind Otamendi with a mid-air pass.
Otamendi also wanted to reach out and pull Velarde, trying hard to keep Velarde even if he committed a foul, but he failed. The hand holding Velarde's clothes was still blocked by Velarde's strong physique and inertia. Got free.
Velarde overtook Otamendi and received a pass from Firmino at the edge of the penalty area, creating a semi-one-on-one opportunity. Facing the attacking goalkeeper Ederson and defender Stones rushing from the side, Velarde A decisive kick sent the ball to the far corner.
Stones flew to block the hole of the gun and failed to touch the ball; Ederson flew to the side and was beyond reach.
In the end, with the cheers of the Liverpool fans in the audience, Willard's precise shooting skills allowed the ball to fly into the back corner of the goal without any suspense.
"Goooooooooooooooooal..."
"The ball went in!!!"
"The buzzer-beater!"
"Villad scored twice, helping Liverpool expand the score to 4-2. There is not much time left and Manchester City has no chance!"
"Liverpool really sealed the victory, avenging their away defeat in the first half of the season and taking advantage in the battle for the top spot."
Indeed, the goal at this point was too late. Although Manchester City tried their best in the remaining minutes, Liverpool relied on the leadership of Willard and Van Dijk, as well as the efforts of other players, and Klopp's intention. The substitutions delayed time and successfully extended the 4-2 score to the end of the game.
In the end, Liverpool defeated Manchester City 4-2 at home, winning the 23rd round of the league and handing Manchester City their first defeat of the season.
The Red Army's points reached 60 points, only 2 points behind Manchester City. But Liverpool still have two make-up games to play. If they win both of those make-up games, Liverpool will lead Manchester City by as many as 4 points.
This prospect made the players, coaches, and fans very excited. After the game, they continued to celebrate in the stadium for half an hour before they dispersed because of the increasing rain.
Although Manchester City still leads Liverpool by 2 points at the top of the list, the balance of the Premier League championship has actually begun to tilt towards Liverpool.
